Decision to use first two stanzas of Vande Mataram was not of Nehru alone: Kharge
New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of insulting Jawaharlal Nehru, as he said the decision to use only the first two stanzas of 'Vande Mataram' as the national song was collectively taken by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
As the ruling BJP accused the Congress of 'dividing' the song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Kharge countered the ruling party, saying that Congress leaders have always been chanting 'Vande Mataram'.
Speaking just after Home Minister Amit Shah attacked Congress, alleging that the politics of appeasement was behind the decision to use only two stanzas of the poem as the national song, Kharge started his address, raising the slogan 'Vande Mataram'.
"We have always been singing Vande Mataram. But those who did not sing Vande Mataram have also started singing it now. It is the power of Vande Mataram. It is a national festival, not a debate.
"When the non-cooperation movement was started in 1921, Congress members were going to jail chanting Vande Mataram... What were you doing? You were working for the British," Kharge said.
"You are teaching patriotism to us? You were scared of patriotism and were serving the British. PM Modi leaves no opportunity to insult Jawaharlal Nehru, nor does the Home Minister... I heard the Prime Minister blamed Nehru for stanzas being removed..."
Kharge said the resolution to sing only two stanzas of the poem, which was passed by the Congress working committee, was not done by Nehru alone, and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Madan Mohan Malaviya, and Acharya JB Kripalani were present.
The Congress president also quoted Tagore, who said he found "no difficulty" in dissociating the first two stanzas of the poem with the rest of the song.
"You are insulting all these tall leaders. It was their combined decision. Why do you target Nehruji alone?" he said.
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Stalin accuses Centre of trying to use women's quota as 'weapon,' slams EPS over delimitation
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.
"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."
